After hearing an outcry from the online Survivor audience, host and showrunner Jeff Probst wants to get everyone’s opinion about longer episodes.
The quality of a Survivor season is not dependent on the strength of its opening episode, but it can help get the season started on the right foot. For example, having 90 minutes to learn about all the castaways and their dynamics at camp in David vs. Goliath helped settles us into the short and long-term storylines necessary to provide a full picture for most of the players.
This brings us to the Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 1 premiere on Wednesday which, unfortunately, gave us very little information about a few characters. For example, I know nothing about Chris Underwood or Julia Carter at this time without going into their preseason coverage. Plus, with four returnees, finding equal screentime in just a one-hour premiere was always going to be a tall order.
Showrunner, executive producer and host Jeff Probst has taken notice to those who asked for a longer premiere, extending his bi-annual Twitter stay to ask the Survivor fandom about episode length. Specifically, he asked the fans about occasional two-hour episodes and having a longer premiere.
Question: I hear you on wanting a longer premiere! Is that a shared desire? For example, if we had occasional 2-hour episodes would you watch? Or is 2 hours too long, and too late for kids? Let me know! We listen!
— Jeff Probst (@JeffProbst) February 21, 2019
Though my mother never let me watch Survivor as an ongoing show during its first season run, I was given permission to watch the two-hour finale along with the 53+ million others at the time. Despite being 10 years old and it pushing past my bedtime, it was a special occasion for what was, at the time, appointment television.
Now as someone very much on the wrong side of 20, I hadn’t figured just how much Survivor remains appointment television for families on Wednesday nights. While I prefer longer premiere episodes and a double-length episode near the final third of a season, I can understand where Jeff Probst feels like it might be a strain on families to push episodes further.
Side-stepping the fact that Survivor’s scheduling is at the behest of CBS, not Jeff Probst (plus, Survivor has been a promoting ground for other Mark Burnett shows like The World’s Best), a 90-minute premiere feels like an excellent compromise. It tells a better story of all 18-20 players at the start, especially those who are the first voted out. I still have no clue what Katrina Radke was doing in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, and that’s not her fault, either.
What do you think, Survivor fans? Would you like a two-hour premiere with one (or two) eliminated players, a 90-minute premiere or is one hour more than enough?